Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-10-05
DIVING FOR PEARLS.
How the Gems Are Drawn from
the Depths OF the Sea.

that which has been worked from time i'm
memorial on the shores OF Ceylon and the
opposite coast of Southern India; but, says
contributor in ChamGers' Journal, at the
present day the region where the pearling
business is carried on most systematically
and successfully lies more 70 the eastward,
in the seas between the northwestern coast
of Australia on the south and Borneo and
the Philippines on the north. Visitors to
the Indian and Colonial Exhibition will re-
member the great pillars glittering with
mother-of-pearl shells that decorated one of
the Australian courts. Thasc were some Of
the exhibits" of the northwest Austria
lian pcGrling industry. The pearls them
selves vcro. TO be seen in the same de-
partment u the exhibition, the gem
Of the whole collection being the
curious natural cluster known as
The Great Southern Cross Pearl. Mr..
Strceter, the greatest living authority on
such subjects, thus describes it in his re-
Gently published work on Pearls and Pearl
ing: $50 far as is known, it occupies an
absolutely unique position in the history Of
pearls. 1t consists of group of nine pearls,
naturally grown together in 50 regular o
manner as to form an almost perfect Latin
cross. Seven pearls compose the shaft,
which measures en- inch and half in
length; while the two arms of the cross are
formed by one pearl on each side, almost op-
posite to the second pearl, reckoning from
the top downwards. The component pearls
are of fine orient, and would be of good
shape we're it not that, by mutual compres-
sion during growth, they have become
slightly flattcncd on their opposed sides;
while some of them, though round in front,
are distorted into drop-shapos ut the back. I"
The owners of the cluster value it at ten
thousand pounds; but experts hold that this
price is much too high Il was found IN 1874
II Roc5urne, nocr the headQua rters OF the
Australian fishery.
Pearling began on that coast not quite
twenty years ago, and, like many great
and successful enterprises, it began i'll a
very small way, At first, Che shells were
simply pi ked up on reefs left dry at low
wat n; then row-boats with few native
iiggers began to work III the shadows
near the shore. Now the work 10 carried
on in deep water By considerable number
Of schooners and other smaller craft which
can venture out of sight Of land in search
Of shell-bearing reefs. The work can be
carried on for only about six months of tho
year The stormy season, with it's occa-
SIGNAL hurricanes, puts an effcctual stop to
pcarling, and ut that period of the year the
pearlcrs find some work on shore, general
ly sheep-faTrl!ng. In the fine weather, tho
pealing Feet is - work at various points
along the two thousand miles OF coast frC:a
the Northwest Cape to Torres Strait. The
days work on board 4 pcarling schooner is
q hard one. Ear crew usually consists of q
few white mcn-made up of tho owner and
his parsncrs, and perhaps some hired
hands-and a much larger number of
black men, these being generally ma
tive Australian divers, though, on
some of the ships, Malays, SoolereSc and
other natives of the Indian Archipelago arc
employed The day begins at six a. m,
when the pearl-shelis collected on the pre-
vious day are examined The shells are
opened and cleared oat, the body of tho fish
being carefully examined for pearls, the
best of which arc usually found wholly or
partly imbedded i'll its soft substance. The
shell itself is carefully scrutiui5ed for
pearls adhering to it; and if there are any
suspicious-loo,sing blistcrs on its surface it
is split up with chiscl, the result some
times being the discovery of pearl i'm
bodied in the coats of the shell. Pearl
finding is of course very uncertain work I;
sometimes hundreds of shells may be
opened without finding any thing. But the
pcarler has the consolation Of knowing
that even in such case his work is not la
Dor lost. AS the shells are cleaned they
are piled up on the deck, to be packed, later
on, in big barrels, to be sent to England and
sold by auction at Mincing Lane And here,
as in so many other things, slow and sure
gains ultimately bring in more than chance
strokes of good-luck, and the pcarl-shells
pay better than the pearls. Thus, in 1883,
while the value of the shells raised was
thirty thousand three hundred pounds, the
value of the pearls was only six thousand
pounds.
After the work of cleaning and searching
the shells has been completed, there is a
sub 5tantial breakfast, and then the days
fishing begins. The boats are manned, the
full complement for q schooner being half a
dozen. Each boat carries white man and
number of black divers. The white man
SOULS the boat and supcrintends the days
work; the divers planging in, coming up
with the shells held in their hands, or
grasped with the toes, or sometimes under
the arm. They climb into the boat, rest q
while, and then go down again The day
work lasts eight hours. Each divcr's shclls
are piled apart in the boat, for they are paid
by piecc-worl1. The diver works we'll if one
dive in eight produces a pair of shelIs-that
is,one shcllfish: and his days take viii range
from ten to twenty-five. A man has been
known to bring up hundred in a day, but
this would be exceptionally successful dir
ing.
Late in the afternoon, the boats pull bacE
10 the schooner: perhaps they have been as
much as six miles away from her during the
day The shells arc piled on tho deck, tho
number brought by each diver being noted
70 his credit. Tho boats gre cleaned and Sc
cured for the night, and then there Is din
ner, after which the blacks set 10 work *
clean ooze, mud, etc. of the shells. The
opening Of them is done by the white men u
the morning.
Mr. Streeter, whose book on Pearls
cont aims rich store of information on the
modern fisheries, keeps q number Of
schooners cmplovcd in pcarling en- the
Australian coast His little feet was
specially bailt for the purpose, under the
superintendent Of an English naval OIL
Ger, who also directed its first operations,
Mr.. Streeter's vessels have no. only
worked on the old fishing grounds, but they
have made successful prospecting voyages
for the discovery of new haunts Of the
pearl oyster. His agents have also intro
duced tho use Of tho diving-dress, one oi
the chief advantages Of which is that II
completely does away with the peril from
sharlzs- But, notwithstanding this, the
old methods seem still to hold their own il
the aac.- AL -aoss q thz ssaxk Is st-.l dons